"hamstrings" poems
Elizabeth and God exist in a sunflower grave. Her mother and father slit her stomach open and watched the contents pour out like
spaghetti confetti.
Tommy, Elizabeth's boyfriend, rode his ocean blue Huffy, until the tread on his tires grew bald and until the grips were blanketed by dead skin. Looking for her, panoramic views of the horizon leapt beside him. Silhouettes of his legs, churned and kissed the orange and caramel dusk. With every tear in his hamstrings and calves, the **** in his sky grew and swallowed the memory of Elizabeth Mendenhall, Honor Student.
Margot, Elizabeth's twelve year-old sister, was an idealistic soul. Taking a Sharpie, she wrote on her sister's wall, "Liz, there is no death greater than the loss of self, and no life greater than one where we continuously search for what self is." Margot struggled with concentrating and frying eggs - but focused on the sunflower garden, dangerously and perfectly.
Hilary and Brendan were thirty-five and thirty-six years-old. They stabbed their daughter thirty-seven times. They don't know why they did it, they just couldn't think of a reason not to do it.
She begged for her life. The yellow petals of the sunflowers caught blood-drops and, after enough struggle, floated down to kiss and lay on Elizabeth's slow-twitch body. Hilary looked at Brendan and said, "What does this mean?" Brendan shrugged and said, "This is new to me."
The garden was an oven, and digging her grave was like pulling back on a cheap, plastic latch. Elizabeth had pale, pre-cooked pie crust skin. The slits in her stomach looked like peeks into a cherry stuffed filling. Crinkled lips looked indented by a stainless steel fork, back and forth, side to side. And the soil rained upon her like the reversal of hot vapor, returning home.
Elizabeth and the Sunflower Garden.
May 21, 2015
May 21, 2015 at 5:37 AM UTC
Harried, Harassed, Hassled and Hounded-
These are the H-words I work by.
Harpies and Henchmen, Harridans and Heathens-
These are the H-folk I work with.
Hubbub and Hokum and Hurly-burly-
These are the places I do it.
Hoodlums and Hooligans, loaded with Hubris-
These are the clients I deal with.
Heartless and Horrible, Hateful and Hurtful
These are the attitudes around me.
Hopeless and Hapless, Haggard and Helpless-
This is the way I usually feel.
What happened to Happy, and Hopeful and Harmony-
These are the H-words I search for.
Hinder and Hobble, Heckle and Hamper-
These are the Hamstrings that trip me.
Heaven and Harmony, Humor and Honor-
These are the things that I strive for.
Havoc and Hades, Hurt, Hate and Hauteur-
These are the H’s that I have to conquer.
Hope, Help, and Herculean effort-
Is How I will finally get myself Home.
ljm
Feb 25, 2017
Feb 25, 2017 at 12:30 AM UTC
an octagon tent
wide enough that chucking rollies
to the sand made impossible
sprawled layers
you turned to quote Dali
told me how pale blue washed with lucy
shimmered skyline into dimension
acryllic-smeared sass drips canvas
into murmurs circling dilation
dimethyltryptamine stains
painting dreams on my eyelids
with flowerbrushes and silk,
mushroom dust gathers in discarded hues
on your pallet, where the colors of your irises
dry into a nebula of night-blooming jasmine
the scent of how you move when you sleep
and sleeping is never so sweet
as dancing through lucidity
with you as my sheets.
and i've traced your thumbprint so often
i'm sure if it were stretched around a marble
like buffalo skin on spirit-caller drums,
a globe would be seen
in which Greenland is finally proportionate--
the map on my wall always bothers you,
but I do too, and everyone does,
urging me under the geography
etched into the sea of your surface
by the crucible of your purpose
and working me into
empty behind your right
below the 22
between i'ching
and the forty two names of god
clasping your fore in silver
copper wound around my finger
hamstrings woven like wire
kambaba jasper, two to share
you hang Tibetan tektites
to elevate space
meteorite fragments
lodged in your helix,
stardust blood,
mandala sand from your mother,
and our tendons wrappe
by dexterous carpals
make such a pretty pendant
of my heart,
for synesthesia mistakes not
and my addiction to the pen has eased
for you breathe murals
and syllables never could
match brushtrokes of carbon dioxide.
Aug 7, 2013
Aug 7, 2013 at 1:13 PM UTC
Rest easy, read these heavy words of slumber,
tap your chest to the beat of your heart,
empty out breath even from the deepest parts
the void, will fill itself, with sleep, I hope for your sake.
Scrunch those toes to close, then let them relax and let go,
Half close those toes and let them loose, shake them once and again,
Tense those calves, feet pointed at the ceiling, if you are willing,
Go half way and shake the tension away, from you,
Quads and hamstrings, next remember in pretext, full and halfway,
shake the tension away,,
gluteus maximus
then abdominals
and lower back
and in their turn
chest, those pecs to reflex and relax
latissimus dorsi, my oh my you got your back
shoulders,
hands of fingers, just like the toes,
pretty soon you might doze,
forearms, biceps and triceps too,
neck and face shrug and scrunch,
you don't have the answer,
so pucker your face,
eyes are the last close them once,
eyes are the last close them half,
eyes are the last,
I hope you never read this far,
unless you are awake, after a
night of rest fullness, so if it does
not work, know this, I will sit by
your side so you can unwind,
I have a good year for listening,
on pillow soft words, for you to put
your sleepy heavy head.
Good...night...yawn
Sep 8, 2013
Sep 8, 2013 at 12:34 AM UTC
my fingers are spindles of thread, unwoven from blankets of strong women who fought harder fights than I could withstand.
my neck is a porcelain clock. engraved with wisps of words, it's cogs churning to keep my brain functioning.
my torso is an storm. lightning leaves scars acrioss the lining of my stomach, spreading out like spiderwebs, covered in dew. thunderheads boom when I walk, rattling my ribs and awakening this hummingbird heart.
my spine is a garden, blooming. daisys and forget-me-nots bloom from the soil tilled into my veterbrae.
My hamstrings are tightrope across the twin towers, quivering.
My knees are doorknobs left unturned, the room contents dusty and cobwebs string the corners.
Aug 27, 2014
Aug 27, 2014 at 12:46 AM UTC
Stale greens served again
At the same tables
Echoed conversations amidst the
Glow of brilliant faces
In a room, a windowless
Place of task and
Of mere knowing
We traded desire for
Errant follow-though
Like chapped lips locked
Where we might have gone
- A mouth of salty water -
If we had not stayed
- A chassis’ curdled rust -
We dream of tired eyes
Sleepless till the dawn
Sore hamstrings while running
Chasing the stuff unknown
A lemon meringue
First **** then toothsome
So inspired by where we reach
Jan 27, 2013
Jan 27, 2013 at 7:27 PM UTC
cannot live by living
sublimate
intractable life the way
a poet of mangled hands burns away
incessant blankness
to a hot glowing moment wherein
his excision, sought after,
lives.
Whatever way is taken
a fire therein will burn
to majestically disfigure
the unfigurable in your life
the way a drinking straw made of
plastic transforms
in lips of flame
to curlicued ribbons and
blazing involutions, coiled springs and
brightly curled
imaginings of crimson.
Choose to run
and so too will the fibers in your hamstrings
curl, glow crimson
as under fire.
Sit quiet on the marble steps
of a dried fountain in Union Square
watching the looming arch through
the crisp distance of night
and so too will your eyes become
incendiary orbs
heating the air around
to transient veritable sharpness
as if suddenly, every piece of
stone or root of tree
has been released from
a hold
and could at any moment
flinch for you. For
just your witness
and nothing more.
Attempt to find the dream of death
hidden within the taste of
your one beauty’s lips
and so upon the kiss will she
burn, explode!
in quick high flame
to a pile of
shrunk dust and scintillating
strands of hair.
Whichever way, all can burn
to release its true form—hardly sweet
seeming unbearable
before curling
just barely sweet, just bearably, always just
necessarily so.
And slowly, you are already
curling in the flames.
Mar 27, 2012
Mar 27, 2012 at 12:10 AM UTC
You once said that home was wherever you make it
I found my home in the comfort of our secret language
And the way you knew when I needed to run
And the way I knew the meaning behind every syllable
In your music
I remembered your birthday
You forgot mine
But that's alright
Our relationship has been stretched hamstrings
Since you've been gone,
And these songs are the hollow boneyard
I fumble through
Melodies
Strings of smoke
Slipping through my hands
You're missing Christmas
I'm missing your life
Sometimes I wonder if you remember the brother stars
And the trees
And the whales we sang about in the kitchen
And the mulberry pen ink
Sometimes I wonder if you remember me
As the shore you greeted each morning
When you rolled in
If the whisper of these words
Ever carry through the wind
And reach you
Please take this and know
That the shore will still be there
When your wave washes in
I will still be here
Singing
Dec 21, 2016
Dec 21, 2016 at 1:30 AM UTC
Adorned once again
in somber black,
standing in a row
all inhale an aroma
of purifying incense
from burning charcoal
inside a Thurible
flowing in coherence
with the arm of the balding priest
who prances as a peacock,
circling three times past the altar table.
Buttocks bump against
weathered and worn
relic pews.
Muscles strain to tighten hamstrings
sending messages
telling the body to please sit.
Tears flow without
the gush that erupted a year ago.
Now the gentle drain
is like shallow
hillside waterfalls in autumn.
Grievous pain is so familiar except
the lava of volcanic emotions
has cooled.
Tissues passed from hand to hand
as those who anticipated
the display
take care of those
sure they would not cry
or who merely denied
the tempo of the day.
Incantations dwell near the icons
splashed gloriously on the wall.
Chants to forgive sins
of the deceased
combine with pleas
for divine intervention
to elevate the Valhalla home
upward a notch or two.
Blessed wine and sacred bread
distributed to all
who keep the faith
as did the beloved son,
husband, and brother.
Jul 22, 2015
Jul 22, 2015 at 10:51 AM UTC
My heels clip on
London concrete.
My hamstrings strain
To increase my stride.
I slalom around
Pavement zombies,
Phone junkies,
Loitering monkeys.
Don’t they see?
I’m late for a meeting
With a client of grandeur.
A key player.
A major money man.
(I can’t drop the name
Due to a
Signed NDA).
It was suppose to be
A blue sky meeting
On a grey winters morning.
But I slept too long,
And the tube
Went wrong,
And now I’ve
Got the dreads.
If I’m late,
My rep will be tarnished.
I’ll never secure
Another meeting again.
Because in this town,
Time is a diamond
We can’t possess.
But we know it exists;
Out there on the outskirts,
Out there in the sticks.
It’s below freezing but I’m
Working a sweat;
A pavement cardio,
A sidewalk rodeo,
A street athletics show.
There’s no way I am going
To be on time.
It’s curtains for me;
I’ve sealed my P45.
Finally I arrive.
I collapse at the entrance,
My power-walk ending
In a muted reception.
I approach the desk.
‘Yes?’
Glared a future
X-factor entrant.
‘Good morning.
I’m here to see
The top brass.
The big cheese.
The head honcho.
I was delayed, but please,
Pass my humblest regrets,
I am spinning a lie
Which I hope he accepts.’
‘I’m sorry, sir,’
The young lady chewed.
‘The Great Man is away,
Tanning on a beach.
You’ll need to reschedule;
He returns in two weeks.’
Jan 6, 2017
Jan 6, 2017 at 5:29 AM UTC
There are few responses that fit when you fall away
from all the things you love most.
After so many reinventions, so many changes
I don't know who I am anymore.
I thought I knew what I was chasing, but
in the end, I was wrong.
I've changed directions and I can't get back, even
to where home is a distant memory.
I can't recognize my surroundings, the world I
built with my choices.
All doors are locked and windows closed,
walls are padded, eyes are dim.
I don't want to die trapped in my own foolish
insecurities and mistakes.
I don't want to become just a soldier, marching
this lonely road to the end.
I hate looking in the mirror and seeing my own
accusing eyes, reminding me.
Rip and tear, claw and bring to ruin this palatial
tower of misrepresentation.
Wear my fingers to the bone with insignificant
self-promises and fleeting hope.
I will be free one day.
Silence the voice of failure and my near silent
misgivings that cut the hamstrings of hope
and push me deeper into the prison of
despair and self loathing.
I will be free.
Apr 15, 2014
Apr 15, 2014 at 9:26 AM UTC
Breathe deep, fill your lungs
expanding the chest to extend life
slowly release with lips tightly pursed
til the emptyness seems to make you gasp
eyes defocus as if emptyed of life
waiting for the next ******* in of air
when it comes they focus again
taking in the view over the vallys below
Legs give a tremour, muscles exhausted
knees requesting a seat to relieve the weight
hamstrings are tight, threatening to snap
tendons strained at the ankles, stretched just to far
and all you can think as you stand there
looking back from the direction that you came
and shaking your head unbelieving the pain
is why did I attempt to ride up this ****** hill
Jul 13, 2025
Jul 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM UTC
Why bother.
It is a pointless folly
To try.
Life has no
Inner meaning,
No hope,
No beauty,
Only pain.
If I want to leave,
There are many ways.
I can jump off of my roof,
Diving head first
To our cement sidewalk.
I can slice open my wrists and
Cut my hamstrings
So that I cannot
Move,
Simply lying there,
Bleeding out.
I can take a full glass,
Enough to get me drunk,
Then another
Then another
Until I am too far gone,
Destroyed by alcohol,
But mostly by myself.
I could grab some rope,
Like the character in my book,
With all his little details
Based off of me,
Tie it into a noose and
Swing it around the ceiling fan
In my room,
Tying it tight as I
Stand upon my
Woven blue office chair,
Then sticking my neck
Through the hole and
Kicking away the chair,
Kicking away the pain.
I could stab myself,
Only once,
Aiming for my neck,
Hoping to sever the cord
That keeps me alive.
But all of that,
Save maybe the alcohol,
Seems like far too much trouble
To set up.
It’s too hard to
Tie the rope,
Sever the skin,
Or stab in
Through my neck.
Perhaps I could just walk up,
Up to my room,
Up upon my bed,
Rolling open the window,
Crawl out and
Make a small jump out to the roof,
Scrambling to hold on.
Maybe then I’d find
Some glory in the struggle,
Some faint reason to live.
But more likely I’d simply
Cut out the middle man,
Save myself from the pain,
And leap off,
Face-first,
Towards the solid ground.
I want to die,
But without the effort
Of killing myself.
I don’t think
I’ll do something
To end my own life,
But if a car was coming
Straight at me,
At a killing speed,
I don’t think
I’d jump out
Of the way.
Nov 30, 2015
Nov 30, 2015 at 2:42 PM UTC
in a Mexican orange
the sombrero will strike a word
here hamstrings sing above
their bright colors allure
and mariachi moon
dance with the setting sun
does whisper god's words
now these eyes shall blaze
the rapture to fulfill a dream
Jun 14, 2018
Jun 14, 2018 at 9:00 AM UTC
Butchers used to hang their pigs (ham) by the tendons (strings) in the back of the knee. The Hamstrings are actually 3 different muscles that work together to extend the hip and flex the knee.
Basically the hamstrings most important job is to make sure your leg doesn’t fly off your body when you run.
Yes, Found words with capitals. Then there are cheeestrings which i find taste of nothing
in particular.
He was not tongue tied in the medical sesnse, he stammered and was bullied over it. While
I stood by with love and embarrasment .
We have since learned a thing or more.
Then there is the thread to consider, yet I understand that some use thorns.
Stories continue of bound feet and
crippling
people.
He suggested that body dysmorhia may be at the heart of things. bdd.
I fear he may be right.
Research Albino.
sbm.
Feb 6, 2017
Feb 6, 2017 at 1:48 AM UTC
Doctor gave me the news, it was a good
time to buy new running shoes,
Feet slap and screech with each stride,
Biomechanic required to repair the ride,
Pounds shed I no longer dread pounding,
lightly on concrete or asphalt, grounding,
My turbulent times, no reason or rhyme,
To the day, my thoughts have plenty of time,
To play as I run away from home, smiling,
So pleased to be alone among the crowd, filing,
On and off busses, engines make noises like cusses,
Cars eating people, personalities seated in trusses,
For their own safety,
While heels kick back, legs move at the speed,
and pace where there is always sound and greed,
To be first to run the red-light but
On my heart right to that red line,
Hamstrings cry taute like strings,
My mind wanders to many things,
To some people, to a person,
Beckon me run, all that way
And I will.
How did I get here? at least a year in the making,
took on the job, it was a terrible mess of an undertaking,
If I can do it so can you,
Don't wait till your fifty four,
Start when your thirty nine,
Write down all that you eat,
You recognize each day the feat,
To stop eating, at the right point.
Get enough sleep,
Aerobic activity, found a
British study from, London see?
Muscular mobility, range of motion
under load agree, let me, ask you,
What did you do as a child, how did
you have physical fun, what did you
do in your youth, not to relive the pain,
and the strain of bad coaching or none.
Capture your life as first prize
in the only race that counts,
living to beat of the distant drum,
you run I will follow,
you set the pace, I will holler
your arrival, to set your rival,
Death on his heels,
we will chase him back the way,
he came, that will be your claim,
"Raced Death and Still Running"
Jul 10, 2014
Jul 10, 2014 at 2:06 AM UTC
hi again darling,
this week I worked
so hard my hamstrings
are screeching from sitting,
and somehow I’ve learned to sleep
eyes wide open.
Honey I’m tired
but I don’t mind bringing home bacon.
after all, if you’re going to call me
lakshmi of the house,
I better find some gold
before you blow the conch.
this week I worked
through a sea of dead
names and
dead faces of friendly strangers
that kinda looked like you
and I toiled through another
pandemic-ridden seven days
even from home I’m wearing
a mask because
it’s too hard to see tragedy
and be working instead.
So on my break
I retweet
fleet,
press some of that goddess gold
into the digital donations,
because even a world away
even if you don’t see it,
there’s little wealth
in work.
Jun 26, 2020
Jun 26, 2020 at 10:08 AM UTC
I stretched myself to reach the length of the earth
Ripped and tore my hamstrings
Dislocated my joints to wrap around the earth
Felt so big I knew I was the beginning and end
Let my tears fertilize the soils
I gave birth to spring
And let the moon baptize my son
I looked around and asked for the world to remember me
Beyond Nefertiti, I am the woman who washed her feet
I too am worth being celebrated
Jun 27, 2020
Jun 27, 2020 at 6:41 PM UTC